Taekwondo Peace Corps

I first heard of the Taekwondo Peace Corps (TPC) while watching a special feature on cable TV a few days ago. Out of curiosity, I tried to find out a little bit about the organization and as I expected the concept was espoused by a Korean, as Taekwondo is very much Korean.

The idea of a Taekwondo Peace Corps was first raised by World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) President Chungwon Choue at an international workshop on sports and peace in Leuven, Belgium on September 2007. Then again, in another international forum on sport and peace held in Monaco in December of that same year, WTF President Choue again raised the same concept, but these time expanding it to involve all the summer Olympic sports, and called it “Sports Peace Corps”.

Launched by the World Taekwondo Federation in Suwon, South Korea on July 5, 2008, the Taekwondo Peace Corps is promoted by the World Taekwondo Federation and organized by the Goodwill, Cooperation and Service (GCS) International, a United Nations-recognized non-governmental organization, both organizations headed by Dr. Chungwon Choue. TPC’s goal is to bring peace through sports. Not only will TPC provide technical enhancement of Taekwondo to WTF member associations but it will also enhance the over-all image of the sport in the international sport community.

The TPC initially dispatched 27 members to five countries, namely, Russia, Paraguay, India, Pakistan and China, during the summer of 2008. The second dispatch was made during the winter of 2008 where 32 members were sent to eight countries: China, Russia, Pakistan, Paraguay, India, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. This year, the following are the dispatched countries: El Salvador, India, Isle of Man, Samoa, Bhutan, Nigeria, Mongolia, Angola, Philippines, Poland, Azerbaijan, and Mexico.

If TPC will be carried out successfully, Dr. Choue envisions of expanding the program to involve all Olympic sports into a “Sport Peace Corps”, in cooperation with the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee.

Spreading peace thru Taekwondo, that’s the Taekwondo Peace Corps.